Tesla's Next Autopilot Update Will Let Cars Drive Themselves

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After all of the Autopilot-related crashes, this may not be such a good idea.

Tesla's Autopilot feature is one of the most advanced driver aids found in any vehicle today, but it isn't advanced enough to overcome the stupidity of the human race. Since the system has been active, we have seen countless examples of people taking advantage of its abilities and misusing it by falling asleep or not paying attention to the road. The name 'Autopilot' is a bit misleading because the system doesn't actually take full control of the car, at least not currently. That will soon change according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Reuters reports that Tesla stock saw a 5% increase after CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the Tesla Autopilot system will receive full self-driving features after a software update in August. A Twitter user tweeted at Musk to criticize the current Autopilot system, saying "Speaking of merging and autopilot the biggest issue I have noticed is when two lanes merge and it is rush hour traffic. The autopilot is not able to decide to let the car slightly ahead on the neighboring lane go ahead and I invariably find myself cornered!" Musk loves to respond to fans on Twitter, and his response to this tweet also served as a big announcement for Tesla.

Must tweeted out "That issue is better in latest Autopilot software rolling out now & fully fixed in August update as part of our long-awaited Tesla Version 9. To date, Autopilot resources have rightly focused entirely on safety. With V9, we will begin to enable full self-driving features." It is unclear of how autonomous this new version of Autopilot will be, especially given that many features of the system will need local regulatory approval. If the recent news surrounding Autopilot is anything to go by, modern drivers do not seem to be ready for fully autonomous cars. People are already relying too heavily on the system, which may only get worse when it can actually take full control of the car. Color us skeptical.